– Samuels says rogue wardens continue to give prison administration bad name

ONE of Guyana’s largest prisons, the famous ‘Camp Street Prison’ was set alight and burnt to the ground just last year. At that time and even before then, there was the cry of the prisons in Guyana being overcrowded, especially that of Camp Street. As a result of that fire, the majority of prisoners were taken to two of the other holding facilities – Lusignan and Mazaruni.

The situation of overcrowded prisons therefore continues and may have even gotten worse, even with the best efforts of everyone in authority.

Since the increase in the prison population at Lusignan, this institution has been in the news much more, especially because of the intensification of security, more searches of prisoners, cells and the general prison environment. In fact, just recently, there was a ‘prison break,’ and three prisoners escaped from the Lusignan Prison, while a few others attempted to light fires about the prison.

Director of Prisons Gladwin Samuels in an exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle, said while prisoners have numbers and many times they tend to use that to their advantage, the prison service has not been without help.

“In Guyana, we have very oiled joint-services collaboration, so it is never the prison service alone. We can heavily rely on the support of our sister services in our times of need and that is very much commendable. We have a responsibility to ensure that this nation is kept safe; unfortunately, all of our staff members do not support that position. So, many times they aid prisoners in terms of their deviant behaviour; in terms of their access to drugs; to cellphones and sometimes you wonder if persons fail to recognise the danger cellphones can pose, not only in Guyana, but globally.”

Samuels explained that it is in such situations that the prison officers who are committed and dedicated to the job, are seen as ‘upstarts’ or ‘enforcers’ in the environment. He said these are the staff members who suffer at the hands of persons in prison or their supporters on the outside.

He said while he understands that prisoners use their body parts to traffic contraband into the prisons, he feels that it is impossible for them to traffic some of the phones that prison officers find within the prison or on prisoners.

Undoubtedly, he said, there is some collusion between prisoners and staff or staff and prisoners’ relatives to smuggle illegal items into the prison.

SEVERE PUNISHMENT NEEDED
Samuels said he does not think that the penalty for such offences committed by prison officers is severe enough. He said in the crafting of laws like some countries abroad, persons working with organisations such as the prison, should not have the same sentences if they are caught trafficking in marijuana, cellphones and other contraband items.

“There must be a certain section of the law; just as how we now have various categories of murders, there must [be] various categories of ‘trafficking’ in the prisons. So if you traffic you must not do the same maximum time like others, you must do some super time; you must really do some super time; it must be something like the same speed with which it cross your mind that injustice, the same speed something must erase it, because you would know that the rest of your life you will spend behind bars,” Samuels asserted.

He added: “These are some things we need to do; persons must realise that if you are entrusted in a position where you are able to contribute towards positive changes in other people’s lives, then you must not deliberately allow them to continue in the same habit that led to their imprisonment in the first place.”

RELATIVES AND FRIENDS
Samuels sought to speak directly to family members and friends of persons who are in prison, saying that they have a serious responsibility to help to ensure that persons who are in prison do the right things and focus on rehabilitation.

He stated that many times family members support the bad habits of persons who are in prison, because it is these persons that are contacted, whether illegally or through legitimate or illegal phone calls by some of the prisoners, who would then ask them to supply credit, drugs and other forms of contraband items, which get into the prisons.

“If they truly want to see a change in the offender’s life, then they have to come on board and help us ensure that those persons are properly rehabilitated,” Samuels urged.